Effectiveness of application of case management for hypertension in the elderly / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore application of case management for hypertension in the elderly.Methods In total, 106 elderly patients with hypertension treated at outpatient and inpatient departments of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xian Jiaotong University were recruited during January to October 2007, and divided randomly into two groups, one with conventional management and the other with case management.Patients with conventional treatment accepted routine diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and were followed-up passively, and patients with case management accepted integrated therapy and active interview provided by a team with a cardiovascular specialist as core, were followed-up actively and their medical records were kept in files. Percentage of the patients with blood pressure lowered to meet criteria of effectiveness and their improvement in depression and anxiety status and quality of life were evaluated two years after management for the two groups. Results Percentage of patients with their blood pressure lowered to meet effective criteria increased significantly in both of the groups, from 32. 8% to 67.5% in patients with conventional management and from 33.7% to 83.4% in those with case management ( P = 0. 007 ),respectively. Scores of self-rating anxiety scale ( SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) decreased in patients of the both groups, from 57 ± 10 and 56 ± 11 before management to 40 ±9 and 48 ± 10 after it,respectively in patients of conventional management ( P = 0. 032 ), and from 56 ± 10 and 57 ± 10 before management to 35 ±9 and 40 ± 9 after it ( P = 0. 008 ), respectively in those with case management; and scores of quality of life improved in patients of the two group, from 65 ± 13 before management to 85 ± 14 after it in those with conventional management, and from 64 ± 13 before management to 98 ± 14 after it in those with case management ( P = 0.017 ), respectively. Conclusions Case management is better for chronic diseases and recommended in management for the elderly with hypertension, which can improve their targets of blood pressure lowering, decrease their scores of SAS and SDS and improve their quality of life,with an integrated, in-depth, continuous management.